Friday, 17 January 2014

Singapore rebels

I wonder whether my children will ever come to
know of a detainee named Chia Thye Poh.
Or read about the life of Lim Chin Siong.
Or be inspired by these words spoken by Lim
Hock Siew, “Some of you may have
heard that when you are young, you are idealistic, when you’re old, you are
realistic. Now this is the kind of rubbish that is used by those who have
either lost their ideals, or have sold their ideals for self-interests.”

I am sure these names are alien to my
children. I have no doubt that they will be familiar with the exploits of our
founding father, LKY, and his luminary son, LHL, and the 2nd
prime minister of Singapore, GCT. I don’t need to spell their names out. I
don’t even need to mention them by their initials. My children can recite their
names by heart because their portraits and accomplishments are all emblazoned like
wall banners in their school together with the other prominent cabinet
ministers in Singapore.

But
who is Thye Poh or Chin Siong or the indefatigable Marshall?What have they done for Singapore? What were
their accomplishments?How have they
contributed to the development of our garden city-state? Why is remembering
what they did for Singapore, if any, important to my children? Are they part of
Singapore’s history? Or are they forgettable characters, even unmentionables? Or
better still, are they to be left alone like the many neglected small islands
in the Indonesian Archipelago? What can I tell my children about them?

Well, taking it all in, I can tell my children
that the history of Singapore is a history of triumphs and defeats, success and
failure, tears of joy and sorrow, and of winners and losers. I can tell them
that they can learn from the winners of history as well as the losers. Maybe, I
should tell them that there are no losers in history; just people who are
living in the shadow of the winners and are therefore conveniently forgotten.

My children need to know that politics is a
complicated arena which is sometimes no
different from the Darwinian struggle for survival and self-replication. Only those
who wield sheer willpower and determination would be naturally selected to surf
on the crest of the overriding wave while those who are less initiated and
determined, at times, unknowingly hapless, would be dragged down by the political
undertow. Maybe, I have said too much and my children would be squirming by
now.

But my point is this, if history is written by
winners, then those who have conceded defeat (for whatever reason) should at
least be assigned a historical footnote that is of course subordinated to the
winners’ main narrative. In other words, their voices should still be heard –
albeit softly and discreetly. And here are a few footnotes of Singapore history
that I would like my children to read about. I hope they will not just learn
about how they had lost the struggle but also about how they had stood strong
with resolve in spite of the defeat.

Of course they are not perfect, nobody is.
They are in fact ordinary people but with quite an extraordinary story to tell.
Their lives in brief are well narrated in the book Dissident Voices written by veteran journalist Clement Mesenas. This
book is the source of all my quotes and information here.

When my children think about the longest
prisoner detained by the government of a sovereign state, their thoughts
immediately go to the late Nelson Mandela. The latter served 27 years in
prison. But in Singapore, we do have our own political detainee who served 22
years in prison and another 9 years in house arrest, in Sentosa to be exact.
Altogether, Chia Thye Poh was denied his freedom (in varied forms) for 31
years.

Now that’s a long time to be locked up for something
he allegedly did or believed in when he was only 25 years old in 1966.
Ideological differences aside, when Chia was allowed to talk to the press, he
said, “The best years of my life were
taken away just like that without a charge or trial.”

Chia was already 56 years old when he finally
got his freedom back in full. After his release, Chia did his best to salvage
the lost years by working as a freelance translator from home, earning a few
hundred dollars a week, and taking care of his aged parents. He even got his
masters in development studies and later attained his doctorate from the
Institute of Social Studies at the Hague in the Netherlands in 2006.

This is a man who had led a hardscrabble life
and was once granted a chance by the authority to recant but he refused. In the
book, he told the author why, “To
renounce violence is to imply you advocated violence before. If I had signed
that statement, I would not have lived in peace.”

Wow,
what price to pay for a peace of mind! Chia rather give up his
external freedom just so that he could protect and preserve the freedom of his
own conscience. And for the whole 31 years, he did just that. I guess when he
was released, he not only got his freedom back - for what it’s worth - he also
got something much more valuable than that, a well-fought after and enduring peace
of mind.

Now, it is said that we should let bygones be
bygones. This is easier said than done especially when you had been locked up
for the most part of your productive life because you were once perceived as a
threat to the state for holding on to your beliefs. This was the same question
he was asked, that is, did he bear any
grudge against those who authorized his detention? To that question, Chia
replied, “I have no personal grudge
against anybody. My main concern is the policy (of detention without trial),
because if the policy is not fair, many people will suffer.”

What
can my children learn here? What can they learn about the life of this man, our
very own longest serving political detainee? I guess the one
virtue that stands out for me is forgiveness. On that score, Chia lived out the
legacy of Nelson Mandela most admirably.

Next comes the champion of the underdog, David
Marshall. This is one man my children will look up to. Not so much for being
Singapore’s first Chief Minister in 1955. Or for being widely regarded as
Singapore’s greatest criminal lawyer for whom it was said that LKY, when he
argued in Parliament for the abolition of the jury system, remarked in passing,
“David Marshall is responsible for two
hundred murderers walking freely the streets of Singapore.” Or for his
appointment as Singapore’s ambassador to France, Spain, Portugal and
Switzerland and for receiving the Meritorious Service Medal in 1990.

Any one of those accolades, except maybe that
setting-murderers-free thingy, would have been worthy of my children’s
admiration. But what I personally feel is worth their deepest esteem is found
in what David Marshall once said here in an interview: “I don’t think I had leadership qualities…for me a leader is a great
administrator, organizer…I’ve been a vivid personality. But that doesn’t mean I
have leadership quality. I had the fire of anger, the excitement of great
ideas, emotional approach almost uninhibited, but not the intellectual
organizational approach of great leaders.”

David Marshall was a man who knew of and admitted
to his own limitations and shortcomings. During his short stint of one year as
the Chief Minister, he initiated a slew of policy ideas concerning CPF, labor
reforms and usage of multi-lingualism in the Legislative Council. However, he
readily admitted that did not have the administrative tenacity or brilliance to
follow them through. He owned up to what he can and cannot do. His capacity for
self-awareness was of humbling depth. That is a quality that I find wanting in
our media-centered, internet-driven, attention-craving younger generation.

Of course such quality will take many years to
cultivate. And I trust that when my children are looking for a role model to
inspire them, they will find one in David Marshall.

In addition, he was also a vocal critic of
some of the government policies, in particular, the tightly censored and
controlled media and the high ministerial salary. On the latter, he defiantly
commented, “I don’t see the necessity of
owning a Mercedes-Benz and a swimming pool – and a couple of mistresses. You
know $96,000 a month for a prime minister and S$60,000 a month for a minister –
what the hell do you do with all that money? You can’t eat it. Your children
don’t need all that money.”

I guess this is one man who doesn’t mince his
words. He once exclaimed that he wanted to fight till he’s dead. That would
naturally be an honorable end for him. But jingoism and gung-ho-ism
notwithstanding, I would be contented if my children could grow up taking after
the side of this man which fights for what he believes in and never gives in or
up.

The next personality in the footnote of
history is Lim Chin Siong. I would tell my children that this man was once regarded
as LKY's "general". In
fact, he so impressed LKY that David Marshall recounted how LKY introduced him
in the early years, "Meet the future
Prime Minister of Singapore...Don't laugh! He's the finest Chinese orator in
Singapore and he will be our next Prime Minister of Singapore."

Wow, that was quite a recommendation from the
future and longest serving PM of Singapore. Alas, the honeymoon period between
them did not last long. Although Lim was one of the founding partners of the
PAP when it was first formed in November 1954, he exited the party in 1961 as
he was opposed to the merger with Malaya. He then formed Barisan Sosialis and
rivaled PAP in the election.

Of course, I don't think my children need to
know the details of why he was arrested, which was believed to be due to his
association with the leader of the Brunei revolt, but he was nevertheless
imprisoned for six years from 1963 to 1969. After his release, he married in
Britain and had two sons. He then tried to return to politics in 1979 but was
unsuccessful. He later died of a heart attack in February 1996.

So
what can my children learn from this man, who was once earmarked by LKY for
great things? Well, maybe this tribute in his obituary by
LKY himself says it all. "I liked
and respected him for his simple lifestyle and his selflessness. He did not
seek financial gain or political glory. He was totally committed to the
advancement of his cause. He and many of his comrades, graduates from the
Chinese middle school, taught my colleagues and me the meaning of dedication to
a cause."

Out of all that, I guess my children will do
well to always lead a simple and selfless life and be committed to what they
put their mind to. Words to live by, in
my humblest view.

Finally, the last person on my list is Dr Lim
Hock Siew. He was the one whose quote I borrowed from when I started this
letter. It is a quote about keeping one’s idealism close to the heart
throughout one’s life. Here is the quote in full: "Some of you may have heard that when you are young, you are idealistic,
when you’re old, you are realistic. Now this is the kind of rubbish that is
used by those who have either lost their ideals, or have sold their ideals for
self-interests. Each should not wither one's ideals or convictions. If
anything, it should only consolidate and make it more resolute. If age has
anything to do with it, it is only by way of expression and application of
these ideals and convictions having the benefit of youthful experiences. And a
life without convictions, without idealism is mere meaningless existence."

My children should know that next to Chia Thye
Poh, Dr Lim was the second longest detainee in Singapore. He served 20 years
under lockup. He was arrested during Operation
Coldstore in February 1963 when he was suspected of being a communist. He
could have been released after the first 10 years, but he refused certain
demands made by the authorities, which would have compromised his character. He
then stood his ground and made a statement insisting on his innocence. For that
defiance, his imprisonment was extended for a further 10 years. He was only 32
years old then and his son was just 5 months old.

Dr Lim died in June 2012. At this funeral, his
son recalled, “When I was growing up, my
memories of my father were more of me visiting him in prison and getting to
know him. It was tough – kids can be quite cruel and I didn’t know how to
explain his absence.”

My children should know that Dr Lim lived his
life valiantly and selflessly, standing firm on his principles and keeping the
morale of fellow detainees high. He also fought for the rights of the political
prisoners. After his release, he continued his medical practice at his Rakyat
Clinic on Balestier Road and “tended to
the sick and even gave transport money to those in dire need.”

Dr Lim lived a quiet life and died almost
anonymously. Although he did not live to see the day the authorities reform the
law on detention without trial, he will still be remembered for having the
courage to stand up for what he believed in.

Let me end with these words by a Methodist
minister, Daniel Koh Kah Soon, who wrote a letter to The Straits Times on 7
June 2012 after Dr Lim’s death, “…One
day, I hope, his side of the story will be given a fairer hearing, and that a
respected academic will write a properly researched book of the contribution of
political leaders like him. It speaks volumes of his character that in spite of
his incarceration, he kept his conviction and stood his grounds – qualities
which people who aspire to political office should have. I am certain that he
will be respected by those who know him as a politician who loved his country
and cared deeply for the poor.”

And on that note, Dr Lim together with the
rest of the people mentioned here will always be respected for keeping their
faith in humanity, accepting their lot in life and making the best of it. Herein
ends the lessons for my children. Indeed, without the essential footnotes, the
main narrative of history somehow just feels a little wonky. Cheerz.